Linux is the kernel for a variety of operating systems that power many of the world’s servers. Although the operating systems themselves are often commonly called Linux, the actual term refers specifically to this kernel and all of its parts. In addition to the components that are compiled into the kernel, Linux also supports modules […]

Boosting a server’s processing power by adding cores is nothing new. In the old days, you had to add multiple physical processors. Today, some processors come with multiple cores. Therefore, adding two quad-core processors would give you 8 cores, which is 8 times the processing power. But are there really noticeable benefits to having multiple […]

The “Information Age” has left us with more information than we can easily handle. As a result, storage has become an industry in itself, and it is no longer just for backup and recovery. Simple access and retrieval can be difficult when you have terabytes of data to deal with. Virtualization has presented its own […]

Virtualization has been one of the best technologies to develop in a long time for many organizations. Server deployment times are shorter, data centers are more energy efficient, and overall operational costs are down. In short virtualization is almost certainly something you should consider for your servers. What follows are some tips that should […]

Once upon a time, data centers were huge, fully staffed with IT personnel, and required quite a bit of attention to keep them running. People had to manually deploy physical servers, maintain good temperature and humidity levels, and monitor the servers. Those days may soon be over and make way for the era of the […]

Virtualization is extremely popular in the server world right now, and many organizations swear by it. Still, there are some IT people that will look at individual virtualization examples and say to you, “Why don’t you just use a chroot environment.” There are pros and cons to this method, and we will discuss the benefits […]

KVM is a Linux-based virtualization system that allows you to virtualize a wide variety of operating systems and environments. When you want to manage your virtual machines or guests, you can use a program called virsh. As a command line tool, you can use virsh to manage guests and the hypervisor. It is built on […]

Virtualization can save your organization a lot of money, so it is no surprise that it has become a popular tool for server deployment. What once required 4 dedicated servers may now only need one server running four virtual machines. While enterprise-level virtualization is inexpensive compared to actual hardware, it is still not free. To […]

Your shiny new server is just begging for an operating system or perhaps even two or three, if you intend to use virtualization. You might have already decided to use a Linux-based operating system, which is popular for Internet-connected servers. What you might still need to decide, however, is whether to use a community distribution […]

In the past, creating a testbed environment for your server often involved setting aside an old machine or even using a desktop or laptop computer. In most cases, it was difficult to mimic the exact hardware configuration of your server and not as efficient. Virtualization changed all of that, and VMware Player is one free […]

The very nature of a dedicated server is that it is dedicated. The very name suggests a long term marriage. But what should you do if you just want a brief affair, maybe even a fling? Quick, easy to deploy virtual cloud servers may be the way to go.
Virtualization allows for rapid deployment of […]

Server management is a ever-changing arena, filled with new technology and security techniques that you need to learn and relearn. Suffice it is to say that the game has changed significantly in the past five years. The following are trends you should be aware of and prepare for in the near future.
1. Virtualization is […]

When businesses talk about virtualization, they are often concerned with the financial savings that it can bring. When IT people talk about it, they usually laud its ability to do more with less space, fewer servers, and often less effort. In addition to those technical and financial savings, virtualization can also help conserve energy in […]

Most web hosting companies offer some form of VPS service, so it can be difficult to decide which one is right for you. A virtual private server can be almost anything that uses virtualization, so it is important to know what you are getting and if the services offered fit your needs. These are some […]

In a previous post, we looked at some of the ways that virtualization can help you save money. It can help you maximize space usage, reduce power consumption, and reduce the amount of time you spend on provisioning and deployment. The following are three more ways virtualization help:

When physical space is an issue but you have virtual space to spare, virtualization is a great way to consolidate multiple server instances into one machine. Linux is very flexible when it comes to virtualization and even has virtualization capabilities built into the kernel.
There are three levels of Linux virtualization that determine how the virtual […]

Building your own private or hybrid cloud sounds rather difficult, but with the right solution, you can create a stable AWS-compatible cloud and have user-friendly tools to manage it. Eucalyptus is one such solution. It is a free and open source cloud platform that follows industry standards to deliver an AWS-compatible cloud solution.
Eucalyptus works by […]

If you have spent any time reading or even overhearing conversations about cloud computing, you have undoubtedly heard of the term Software as a Service (SaaS). Other common cloud terms include Platform as a Service (PaaS) and even Storage as a Service (STaaS). Another cloud model that is quickly gaining steam is Infrastructure as a […]

There are many ways to create virtual machines and many virtualization tools you can use. KVM is one tool that is built into most Linux distributions. Cloudmin, an optional add-on for Virtualmin and Webmin, can provide a graphical interface for creating and managing virtual machines.
To create a virtual machine in Cloudmin, do the following:
1. Click […]

Saving money is very important in the competitive dedicated server industry, and a good system administrator will always look for ways to help the business save. Virtualization, when used correctly, is a great way to save money and still get good performance out of a server. The following are three ways to save with virtualization.
1. […]

Businesses invest a great deal of money into dedicated servers. What may start with one server and a few gigabytes of data can eventually grow into an entire server cluster with several petabytes of data. Ideally, a hosting or colocation provider will give businesses the tools to smoothly transition from one stage of development to […]

SSH – Secure Shell allows you to connect to your server as though you were sitting in front of it typing on the console. If you have administrative access, you can completely control your server from SSH. Connections made via SSH are also encrypted and secure.
Apache HTTP Server – The most popular web server software […]

You can use a dedicated server for a wide variety of tasks. It is not just limited to one particular type of hosting. What may prove to be an obstacle, however, is safely testing new applications and alternative uses for your server without the risk of harming active websites or even bringing the entire server […]

This is the third part of a series on KVM. If you have not already read them, you should begin with part 1 and continue with part 2.
Once you have KVM installed, you should make sure that you have libvirt installed as well. If not, install it now.
# yum install libvirt
Next, […]

This guide will describe how to install and setup KVM on a Red Hat/CentOS server. The end result will be a system capable of hosting multiple virtual machines, all of which operate on a bridge network, meaning they are equally accessible within the same LAN and would appear to a remote user as though they […]

Virtualization is one of most important advancements in computing. It allows the user to run one operating system within another, accessing and interacting with the hardware as though it were running natively. Over the past decade, the technology has progressed to the point where you can now run a virtual machine at nearly the same […]

Choosing your operating system and web server software is only the beginning. If you need a custom dedicated server built to your specifications, you will need to specify several other types of software, including database system, DNS, mail transfer agent (MTA), scripting languages (PHP, Ruby, Perl, etc.), firewall, virtualization, and more.
DNS – The management of […]

In the third part of our “Back to the Basics” series, we will look at the operating systems that power today’s servers. Just as there is a diverse amount of hardware available on the server market, so too are there a great number of operating systems. They are not all equal in all aspects of […]

Virtualization gained many fans in 2011. More system administrators than ever before are seeing the benefit of creating virtual machines for a variety of purposes, from sectioning off business operations to hosting virtual private servers for customers. The more virtual machines you have, the more difficult it can be to manage all of them. Fortunately, […]

Virtualization can save you time and money when used efficiently. This has made it very popular for small, medium, and large sized data center operations. Whether you have a single server or a fleet of them, virtualization has its benefits.
KVM and Xen are two virtualization options for Linux servers, both with their advantages. Xen is […]